Boston Bruins: Five takeaways from first week of preseason

The time has finally arrived for NHL hockey. Arenas are filled, iconic jerseys are being draped over fans and players, sirens are blasting and hollering, and the great red light signaling a goal has been flashing.

After a hectic week of preseason games, the Boston Bruins have collected three wins and one loss. Although the team did suffer a rough 8-2 loss against the Detroit Red Wings, there have been clear positive takeaways from the beginning of the 2013-14 preseason.

Here are the five positive takeaways from week one of the 2013-14 season:

1.) Nick Johnson continues to prove why he deserves the spoked-B jersey. He has scored three out of the Bruins’ 14 goals in their first four games of the preseason. Johnson helped the Bruins against the Canadiens, scoring two out of the six goals. Before the second game against the Red Wings, Johnson played two out of three preseason games, and had tallied three goals for Boston.

2.) Along with Johnson, Jarome Iginlahas asserted his dominance on the ice, also chipping in three goals thus far. A Calgary Flame legend, Iginla has proven he still has a lot of gas in the tank. Wearing the Bruins jersey for the first time, Iginla collected two goals in a strong effort to defeat Boston rival, the Montreal Canadiens. Alongside his line mates, Milan Lucic and David Krejci, Iginla’s line gathered a point in all six of the goals against the Canadiens, while scoring half of them.

3.) Patrice Bergeron is back on the ice. Following the postseason last June, Bergeron announced to the public just how awful his injuries from the playoffs were. Assistant captain is not simply stitched on his jersey above the heart for no reason. The 28-year-old Bergeron has seen countless injuries for a player his age, yet has shown no signs of weakness. In a low-scoring game, Bergeron helped shut out the Red Wings in his first game back since the injuries last June.

4.) Niklas Svedberg and Chad Johnson are stonewalls between the pipes, giving Tuukka Rask a run for his money this season. The shootout win over the Washington Capitals showed head coach Claude Julien Svedberg wants to see ice time this upcoming season. In a goaltender’s duel, Svedberg came out on top, shutting down countless Capitals to give the Bruins their second victory of the preseason. Johnson collected a shutout against the Red Wings in the Bruins’ 2-0 win. He gobbled up all 18 shots he faced in the game.

5.) In general, Bruins are looking extremely strong, excluding a lackadaisical performance in the third game of the preseason. The Bruins have scored 14 goals in four games, while gaining a preseason record of 3-1. The whole bench, from offense to goalies, has shown why they deserve playing time this season.

About Connor Mahon

Connor is a sophomore Strategic Communication and Media, Rhetoric & Culture double major with a minor in Ethics at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is from Norwood, Massachusetts, a suburb outside Boston. Following the Bostonian stereotype, he roots for the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox.